Dun & Bradstreet Investigating FCPA Allegations

Commercial information provider Dun & Bradstreet Corp. said on Monday it was reviewing allegations that local employees in China may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and certain other laws.

The company also said that it temporarily suspended a China-based business as it investigates whether its data-collection practices violated local consumer-privacy laws, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In a press release, Dun & Bradstreet said it is cooperating with local investigators and reported the issues to the U.S. Justice Department and to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Calls to the company’s office in Shanghai and to a company spokesman by WSJ weren’t immediately returned. A spokesman for the Shanghai police said an investigation is continuing but declined to disclose further details.

The Justice Department and the SEC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The disclosure follows a report last week by state-controlled China Central Television that alleged the operation improperly collected private data on 150 million consumers. The report couldn’t be independently confirmed. It was broadcast on Thursday as part of China’s observance of World Consumer-Rights Day.

Other broadcasts that day targeted individual outlets of restaurant chain McDonald’s Corp. and French retailer Carrefour SA. Both have apologized and said they would review quality standards, while Carrefour said one outlet in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, in central Henan province, was temporarily closed by local officials.

Dun & Bradstreet said it temporarily suspended its Shanghai Roadway D&B Marketing Services Co. operations in China pending the probe. D&B said it acquired the operations in 2009. Last year, Roadway accounted for about $23 million in revenue and $2 million in operating income, the company said.

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